— By the way, I never told you. My folks are coming next week. For about a week. The words fell into the kitchen like heavy, filthy stones into a clear stream. Irina froze, her hand with the milk carton suspended halfway to the fridge. The crinkle of the paper carton on the countertop, the […]
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Olga closed the notary’s office door and stepped outside. The autumn wind tugged at her hair, yellow leaves rustled underfoot. In her hands—a folder of documents. Certificates of inheritance. Five apartments. Everything that was left of her mother. Four months had passed since the funeral. Four months of paperwork, running around to different offices, processing […]
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October’s evening wrapped the city in early dusk. Olya came home from work exhausted, kicked off her shoes in the hallway, and went to the kitchen, where dinner was already warming. Dmitry sat at the table, scrolling through something on his phone and sighing from time to time. Such sighs had become regular lately, and […]
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— Denis, hi! I’ve got amazing news for you! Tamara Viktorovna’s voice on the phone rang with barely restrained excitement, taut as a string. Denis winced and pushed the blueprint away from him. He was sitting in his humming open-space office, and this brassy call from his mother felt like a marching band bursting into […]
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Elena heard the familiar doorbell and froze over the cutting board. The carrot under her knife crunched especially loudly in the sudden silence. She knew that ring—two short, one long. Her mother-in-law. “Lena, open up, it’s Mom!” came from behind the door. Elena slowly wiped her hands on a towel and looked at the clock. […]
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Marina was drying her hands on a kitchen towel when the phone rang. The number was familiar—Lena Sokolova, her classmate from the design faculty. They hadn’t spoken in over three years, ever since Marina went on maternity leave. “Marish, hi! How are you, how’s the baby?” Lena’s voice sounded energetic, almost infectious. “Listen, I’m opening […]
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Irina heard a knock at the door just as she was finishing the dinner dishes. Makar had gone to a friend’s place to study for exams; the apartment was quiet, drowsy in that almost-evening way. She wiped her hands on a towel and went to open the door, not really wondering who might be calling […]
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The golden light of a Neapolitan evening softly flooded the spacious hall of the Aurora restaurant, tinting the snow-white tablecloths in warm, honeyed hues. The air, dense and saturated, carried a stirring aroma of fresh basil, garlic sizzling in olive oil, and seafood just brought in from the nearby market. At every table a small […]
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Liliya bought an apartment at twenty-six. She’d saved for five years while working as a manager at a trading company. Every kopeck went into savings: she gave up entertainment, wore old clothes, economized on everything. When she finally signed the purchase contract, her hands trembled with happiness. A one-room place on the edge of the […]
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Yulia set the kettle on the table and took out some bread—the morning was beginning as usual. A fine October drizzle misted the window; a gray sky hung over the city. Yulia turned on the stove, heated a frying pan, and took eggs from the fridge. Artyom sat at the table, scrolling through something on […]
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